Shubman Gill. (Photo Source: IPL)
Shubman Gill smashed his second century in as many matches as he stunned Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to eliminate them from IPL 2023. The right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 104 off just 52 with five fours and eight maximums as Gujarat Titans (GT) completed the chase of 198 with five balls to spare in Match 70 in Bangalore. Earlier, Virat Kohli also hammered back-to-back centuries but his efforts went in vain as RCB have been knocked out of the tournament.
Speaking about how the last league game panned out, skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to field first. Faf du Plessis got dismissed for 28 but his opening partner Kohli kept going for the Royal Challengers. Left-handers Michael Bracewell and Anuj Rawat scored 26 and 23* runs, respectively. Kohli brought up his record-breaking seventh IPL century as he surpassed Chris Gayle’s tally of six.
He remained not out on 101 off just 61 with 13 fours and a maximum as the home side posted a huge total of 197/5 on the board. In reply, Wriddhiman Saha got out for 12 while Vijay Shankar, who batted at no. three amassed 53 off 35. Young batting sensation Gill held one end to take his side over the line in the final over. The Titans won the contest by a margin of six wickets and now will face Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Qualifier One on May 23. Mumbai Indians (MI) lock horns with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the eliminator clash the next day. For his sensational hundred, Gill was adjudged with the Player of the Match award.
Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Match No. 70 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League 2023:
7 – Virat Kohli has now smashed the most centuries (seven) in the history of the IPL. He surpassed Chris Gayle’s tally of six tons.
4 – Shubman Gill became the fourth player to hit consecutive hundred in the IPL. Kohli became the third batter to achieve the feat in this very match. Shikhar Dhawan and Jos Buttler got to the milestone in the 2020 and 2022 editions respectively.
17 – Dinesh Karthik has now registered the most ducks (17) in the league. He went past Rohit Sharma’s tally of 16 ducks.
8 – Kohli is now joint-third with Aaron Finch, David Warner, and Michael Klinger for slamming eight centuries in T20 cricket. Chris Gayle and Babar Azam are in the first and second positions with 22 and nine hundred, respectively.
939 – Kohli and Faf du Plessis have now scored the joint-most runs (939) by a pair in a season. Kohli himself shared 939 runs with AB de Villiers in the 2016 edition.
1066 – A total of 1066 sixes have been hit this season, which is the most in any IPL campaign. 1062 maximums were smashed last year in 2022.
1018 – Vijay Shankar completed the landmark of 1000 runs in the cash-rich league.
232 – Kohli has amassed 232 runs in just three innings at a staggering average of 116.00 with one hundred and two half-centuries against GT.
14 – GT recorded their 14th victory in 17 games while chasing.
4 – For the fourth time, two batters slammed a hundred in the same IPL match. The other three instances are of Kohli and de Villiers against Gujarat Lions in 2016, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow against RCB in 2019, and Kohli (RCB) and Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad) in Hyderabad this season.
8 – Gill has now struck the second-most sixes (eight) for GT in an innings. He himself smashed seven maximums against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Ahmedabad this season. Rashid Khan is on top for hitting ten against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mumbai (WS) this campaign.
8 – Kohli and du Plessis have now recorded the most 50-plus partnerships (eight) in a season. Pairs of Kohli and de Villiers (2016), du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad (2021), and Jonny Bairstow and David Warner (2019) are joint-second for seven such stands.
4 – Karthik is now tied with six other players in the second spot for the most ducks (four) in an edition. Herschelle Gibbs (2009), Mithun Manhas (2011), Manish Pandey (2012), Shikhar Dhawan (2020), Eoin Morgan, and Nicholas Pooran in 2021 also got four naughts. Jos Buttler tops the chart with five ducks in the ongoing campaign.
104* – Gill scripted the highest individual score (104*) for the Titans. He himself is in the second spot for scoring 101 against SRH in the last game.